Dogs hold 2nd scrimmage and Defense outshines Offense..
By Editorial Staff
The Geoorgia Bulldogs held their second scrimmage of the preseason camp on Saturday. The Dogs went for 90 minutes btween the hedges on a mostly cloudy cooler rainy day. Head coach Mark Richt reported that it was a defensive dominated day:
"“My impression of the day was the defense dominated the scrimmage.” “We had very inconsistent play offensively overall. We really couldn’t get much going. When a scrimmage starts that way, it’s compounded. It was sloppy at times.“I’m glad we’ve got three more weeks to iron some of this stuff out. We had more energy today definitely. By far, it was the coolest day we’ve dealt with. But the offense started off with not much going right and just couldn’t shake it off. I would put the defense in a 7 (out of 10) range and the offense more like a 4.”"
OLB Justin Houston recorded 3 sacks and returned a fumble 30 yards for a TD. Houston is expected to shine this year in Coach Todd Grantham’s new 3-4 defense. Akeem Hebron lew the defense with 5 tackles and also recovered a fumble. Linebacker Darryl Gamble continued to terrorize QBs in the new scheme recording 3 more sacks Saturday. “I think with every practice and every scrimmage, we get more and more confidence,” said Houston. “As you get more comfortable, you can go hard to the ball. I’m sure we made mistakes, but we’ll watch the film and we’ll keep getting better.”
On what turned out to be a long day for the offense, QB Aaron Murray was 8-20 for 133 yards. His big play of the day was a 46 yard completion to QB turned receiver Logan Gray. Gray led all receivers with 3 catches for 70 yards. Running Back Washaun Ealey had 7 carries for 78 yards and Running Back Caleb King tallied only 18 yards on 7 carries.
Leash Laws
The offense played without starting linemen Ben Jones, Cordy Glenn and Josh Davis and managed just one field goal in length-of-the-field drives in the first half of the scrimmage. Jones will have arthroscopic surgery on his knee today, Glenn is suffering from mononucleosis and Josh Davis played briefly, but went out with a minor ankle injury.
Redshirt freshman Chris Burnette replaced Jones at center, junior Tanner Strickland replaced Glenn at guard and redshirt sophomore A.J. Harmon replaced Josh Davis at tackle. Guard Chris Davis and tackle Clint Boling were the only starting offensive linemen to play extensively in the scrimmage.
“There wasn’t much of a pocket today,” Richt said. “Let’s face it, when Jones is out, Cordy’s out and J.D. is out, it’s just not the same. It’s not the same. You don’t want to sit there and make excuses, but it’s not the same.”
Richt estimated that the offense lost up to four fumbles, but two of those came on center exchanges with the deep reserves. Georgia began its scrimmage at 8 a.m. and rain started to fall during play, which contributed to the sloppiness.
After missing most of fall camp because of “academic issues,” cornerback Branden Smith participated in Saturday’s scrimmage. Smith, who had two tackles, returned to practice Friday after being ruled as eligible to return to the team.Despite the missed time, there weren’t any signs of rust.
“He missed a full week, and we conditioned through that week,” Safety Brandon Boykin said. “He was able to keep his breath after missing time like that. I think he did a pretty good job.”
As expected, UGA introduced Greg McGarity as its new Athletic Director in an afternoon news conference Friday. McGarity, a former Georgia Alum who worked under Vince Dooley as an assistant and had served as Associate AD at the University of Florida since 1992, was the odds on favorite to get the job. McGarity had applied for the AD job at Georgia back in 2003 but was passed over for the recently fired Damon Evans by UGA president Michael Adams.
When Evans was hired in 03, McGarity admitted Friday that it was a “shot to the gut.” But after he recovered, he said it “re-ignited” him. Now McGarity has a shot at his dream job and UGA looks forward to great things from him.